[syn: beating, thrashing, licking, drubbing, lacing, trouncing, whacking]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Lick \Lick\ (l[i^]k), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Licked (l[i^]kt); p.
   pr. & vb. n. Licking.] [AS. liccian; akin to OS. likk[=o]n,
   D. likken, OHG. lecch[=o]n, G. lecken, Goth. bi-laig[=o]n,
   Russ. lizate, L. lingere, Gr. lei`chein, Skr. lih, rih.
   [root]121. Cf. Lecher, Relish.]
   1. To draw or pass the tongue over; as, a dog licks his
      master's hand. --Addison.
      [1913 Webster]
   2. To lap; to take in with the tongue; as, a dog or cat licks
      milk. --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]
   To lick the dust, to be slain; to fall in battle. "His
      enemies shall lick the dust." --Ps. lxxii. 9.
   To lick into shape, to give proper form to; -- from a
      notion that the bear's cubs are born shapeless and
      subsequently formed by licking. --Hudibras.
   To lick the spittle of, to fawn upon. --South.
   To lick up, to take all of by licking; to devour; to
      consume entirely. --Shak. --Num. xxii. 4.
      [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Licking \Lick"ing\, n.
   1. A lapping with the tongue.
      [1913 Webster]
   2. A flogging or castigation. [Colloq. or Low]
      [1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
licking
    n 1: an unsuccessful ending to a struggle or contest; "it was a
         narrow defeat"; "the army's only defeat"; "they suffered a
         convincing licking" [syn: defeat, licking] [ant:
         triumph, victory]
    2: the act of inflicting corporal punishment with repeated blows
       [syn: beating, thrashing, licking, drubbing,
       lacing, trouncing, whacking]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
88 Moby Thesaurus words for "licking":
   Waterloo, appetite, beating, cannibalism, carnivorism, carnivority,
   carnivorousness, chewing, collapse, conquering, conquest,
   consumption, crash, cropping, deathblow, debacle, defeasance,
   defeat, deglutition, destruction, devouring, devourment, dieting,
   dining, downfall, dressing-down, drubbing, eating, epulation,
   failure, fall, feasting, feeding, gluttony, gobbling, grazing,
   herbivorism, herbivority, herbivorousness, hiding, hunger,
   ingestion, lambasting, larruping, lathering, leathering,
   manducation, mastery, mastication, messing, munching, nibbling,
   nutrition, omnivorism, omnivorousness, omophagy, overcoming,
   overthrow, overturn, paddling, pantophagy, pasture, pasturing,
   pecking, quietus, regalement, relishing, rout, ruin, rumination,
   savoring, shellacking, smash, subdual, subduing, subjugation,
   tanning, tasting, thrashing, trimming, trouncing, undoing,
   vanquishment, vegetarianism, walloping, whaling, whipping,
   wolfing
U.S. Gazetteer Counties (2000):
Licking -- U.S. County in Ohio
   Population (2000):    145491
   Housing Units (2000): 58760
   Land area (2000):     686.504767 sq. miles (1778.039109 sq. km)
   Water area (2000):    1.876096 sq. miles (4.859065 sq. km)
   Total area (2000):    688.380863 sq. miles (1782.898174 sq. km)
   Located within:       Ohio (OH), FIPS 39
   Location:             40.065737 N, 82.482297 W
   Headwords:
    Licking
    Licking, OH
    Licking County
    Licking County, OH
U.S. Gazetteer Places (2000):
Licking, MO -- U.S. city in Missouri
   Population (2000):    1471
   Housing Units (2000): 744
   Land area (2000):     1.735151 sq. miles (4.494019 sq. km)
   Water area (2000):    0.010002 sq. miles (0.025904 sq. km)
   Total area (2000):    1.745153 sq. miles (4.519923 sq. km)
   FIPS code:            42464
   Located within:       Missouri (MO), FIPS 29
   Location:             37.496775 N, 91.857629 W
   ZIP Codes (1990):     65542
   Note: some ZIP codes may be omitted esp. for suburbs.
   Headwords:
    Licking, MO
    Licking